Modern Minorities

“When I first started, I was the only black person in the company — so I spent the first part of my career conforming." Kevin Turpin is the President of National Journal, a legacy media company for DC Insiders. Under Kevin's leadership, he has transformed the National Journal into an all-encompassing resource for government affairs executives and other policy influencers working in today's landsca...

“When you have a question and you go looking for the answer — it's critical to own that journey.” Nidhi Hebbar is a Product Manager at Google, focused on tackling misinformation and promoting media literacy. In her role, Nidhi builds products that help improve information literacy by empowering people to evaluate information for themselves. Nidhi Hebbar is a Product Manager at Google, focused on t...

“This country has always had moments like this — and it's been a lot worse. And if John Lewis and Fannie Lou Hamer can stand up and say ‘I'm going to keep on fighting’ - then who am I to say ‘I'm tired, I can't take it’?” Rotimi Adeoye is an opinion columnist for The Daily Beast, and communications advisor for the American Civil Liberties Union, helping oversee communications strategy for the ACLU...

“Reading a comic book isn't going to solve peace in the Middle East. But I do think part of the solution is understanding both sides.” Often times real life is scarier than anything else we can dream about. PALESTINE is Joe Sacco's seminal work of cartoon journalism - which Raman & Ryan read (on his other podcast Quarantined Comics) to commemorate Al Nakba* First published in 1993, PALESTINE c...

"It becomes critical for physicians to meet people where they are. COVID is not going anywhere, but because the population is getting vaccinated, we’re seeing milder courses of illness, which is wonderful.” Dr. Mandi Sehgal - is a board certified Geriatrician and Family Medicine Physician. And she’s more than just a FrieMMd of the Pod, she may just be related to one of our co-hosts. Since much to...

“For the longest time I couldn't really talk about my Lebanese identity or Arabic music, and then we'd go to Lebanon, and I’d have to justify being American.” Danny Hajjar is a writer and media relations pro in Washington D.C. who we first met thru FrieMMd of the Pod and musician Soof. Danny’s a fellow music-lover - passionate about about hip hop artists in the Middle East and North Africa, tracki...

“I realized this is what good therapy is. This is what bad therapy is. There were a lot of things that came up with my culture that required a lot of explaining. I realized I wasn't alone in this.” Saniya Soni’s a South Asian mental health advocate studying clinical psychology. Saniya ALSO co-hosts a podcast called “Loudmouth Ladkhi’s” (ladkhi’s means “girl” in Hindi) with her former debate rival...

“Politics is all about empathy — people believing that you understand their plight, their issue, their life — and that you have a plan to help them.” Aftab Pureval is the Mayor of the city of Cincinnati. As Cincinnati’s 70th Mayor, Aftab has made equitable economic growth a top priority of his administration, as well as a comprehensive reform and improvement of public safety, affordable housing, a...

This week the mic gets turned on Sharon & Raman! Ever since we started this show, we've had the privilege of being invited to share our story on other folks' podcasts. One of those shows is "What's at our Story" by longtime FrieMMd of the Pod Matt Story - who you've heard more than a few times on this podcast. Waaaay back when in 2020, Matt asked us to share some of our story on his pod. We ho...

“I knew I looked different, but didn't really notice it until kids started pointing it out. It was time for me to be proud of who I am. If you can't embrace who you are, how can you embrace others?” Sharon’s good friend, Alice Hsu, has been on our podcast twice in the past, but this is the first time we’re focusing the discussion on her. Alice grew up in Canton, Michigan where she was one of the o...

“I don't wanna work at a company for 30 years, and then my entire identity is gone. So I ended up writing four books. And my officemates would say, ‘How do you do all this stuff?’ You gotta find the intersection points.” Kabir Sehgal is a many things: A bestselling author of sixteen books (across nonfiction and fiction). A multi-Grammy-winning jazz musician. A producer and writer of documentaries...

“It really tugs at your heart in the shared experience of growing up with dual cultures - and then recognizing all that our parents had gone through” // “...and at every moment that loneliness was pervasive.” MMovies returns to talk about important films that explain the minority experience for the rest of our majority ears. THE NAMESAKE is known by many as the 2003 book to decode most of your Ind...

“Knowing what I know now and knowing our ethnicity, and where we come from, and what we know of our culture is what makes us unique, and what makes you powerful.” Korey Watari is a sansei, or third-generation Japanese American, born and raised in Los Angeles. She played basketball for a Japanese American league, graduated from the University of California, Riverside, and studied at the Fashion Ins...

Banned books, awkward adolescence, and pronouns. We recently read Maia Kobaba's GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR on Raman’s other not-so-secret podcast Quarantined Comics. Created in 2014 - by Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns - created a cathartic autobiography of Eir's experience with gender identity — from crushes to fan fic, from coming out to making out. What started as a series of Instagram post...

“I can put my emotions into my art. I want to create characters so kids can see themselves and know that they are beautiful.” Holly Hatam is an acclaimed picture book maker, designer, and textile engineer. Holly is the New York Times’s bestselling illustrator of “Dear Girl” and “Dear Boy” - as well as books like “Hair Stories'', “Jack (Not Jackie)”, “Maxine the Maker”, and the recently released PR...

so...you may have heard things getting ...a little different with our podcast. we've either made it and/or sold out. but we wanted to let you a little bit more about the WHY you're hearing ads on this podcast. and it's probably not the reason you think. this changes nothing about about our podcast - but as always - we want YOU to let us know what you think - - himom@modmypod.com, and we'll talk to...

“My saving grace was the theater department. I was in a place where there was a massive amount of acceptance because we were all sort of fringe people. All of a sudden, you're not the only outsider.” The legendary Louis Diamond Phillips is an actor and film director. Known to audiences globally as the breakout star in La Bamba and Young Guns, and his deceptively effortless work in the brilliant St...

may she live long and prosper, and rest in power. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

“Maybe it's the perspective of being the daughter of immigrants who chose to come to this country, but there still fundamentally remains something really special about America and what this country offers, that's worth remembering and worth fighting for.” What’s better than just one Sharon? That’s right, TWO Sharons together on the pod. Our co-host Sharon had the honor of speaking with Sharon Yang...

“This film makes me question so many of my own beliefs — what it means to be a Chinese American woman. What might seem stereotypical, but may be very culturally true.” MMovies returns to talk about important films that explain the minority experience for the rest of our majority ears. THE JOY LUCK CLUB - however you may feel about it - is THE original Asian American movie. This 1993 film adapts th...

“You can't tell the story of American racism without also telling the story of American religion.” Dr. Jonathan Tran is a Christian Theologian and author in the heart of Texas (Waco) - currently serving as a professor of philosophical theology at Baylor University. Jonathan's originally from Southern California - by way of Vietnam - who never would have imagined a Christian vocation. Jonathan comp...

“It’s not really the Brown girls from Jersey City who save the world” -Kamala Khan Kamala Khan's superpower is...time management? Kamala ain’t just a household name because of the Vice President - she’s also the star of MS. MARVEL - her own Marvel TV series NOW on Disney+ (starring Iman Vellani - but also past guest Azhar Usman). We’ve long said that this Pakistani American superhero from Jersey C...

Mike Curato is an award-winning author and illustrator of a more than a few incredible kid's books, as well as the more recent graphic novel FLAMER, which is a MUST-read no matter your age, gender, or sexual orientation. Author Jarrett J. Krosoczka put it best: “This book will save lives.” Mike’s children’s books include the "Little Elliot" series - about an adorable polka-dotted elephant, of whom...

“As a culture, there’s a lot of pride, a lot of authenticity — It brought awareness to my level of fluidity in love.” Beyond celebrating LGBTQIA+ stories this month for PRIDE, did you know that June is ALSO Caribbean-American Heritage Month? What does it mean to identify as Caribbean-American or LGBTQIA+? What impact do these monthly celebrations have on cultural representation? Since we didn’t ha...

From time to time we feature creators / causes that we admire and hope you’ll enjoy — opportunities to learn AND give back. FrieMMd of the Pod Olesya Govorun (from our recent Ukraine episode) recently reached out to share an important cause to the cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people — artists’ fellowships to the the National Museum of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishnya, Ukraine. Ceramics are a co...